Control units in the automotive branch are mostly made up of a circuit board, on which electronic components are positioned, as well as a housing. In engine control units, a multipoint connector is normally mounted on the circuit board, in order to produce the electrical connection between a cable harness plug and the circuit board. Thus, the multipoint connector constitutes an additional component in the assembly of the control unit.
There are also so-called direct electrical contacts, in which the multipoint connector is omitted and the individual poles of the cable harness are directly contacted on the circuit board. To that end, electrical contact surfaces (“lands”), which are directly contacted by contact elements of the cable harness plug, are provided on the circuit board.
In the case of the direct contacting described in German Published Patent Application No. 10 2005 063 239, the contacting plug has two flexibly interconnected contact carriers, which are biased in the direction of each other by a V-shaped or U-shaped spring open in a direction opposite to the insertion direction of the contact plug. In the case of contact and mating contact plugs inserted into one another, the spring is situated completely in the sealed region of the contact plug, which means that its spring length is minimized, and consequently, its elastic spring characteristics are reduced.